The New Method
by Inks Inc
Summary: After a particularly spectacular screw up, Neal learns the hard way that Peter is an old fashioned kind of guy. Contains: Spanking.


Neal had the con mans common sense to keep his head bowed in well practiced contrition, whilst the verbal wrath of one extremely irate FBI Agent Peter Burke cascaded around his ears.

"Of all your idiotic, hair brained and reckless stunts, this one takes the prize. You're like a hard headed three year old that just has to have his own way. Well, I've had it now; I'm officially done trying to reason with you. You don't appreciate the enormous break you've been given with your prison release programme, maybe you need to remember just what prison is really like!"

Neal fought to hide the small smile at Peters' words. _Prison._ That was Peters' "go to" threat but he knew, hell even Peter knew, that he'd never send his little protégé back to County. Peter bristled when he saw the smug smile cross the lips of the otherwise non responsive younger man. He knew what he was thinking. He always knew. He was after all the only one to ever catch the maddening conundrum that was Neal Caffrey.

"I suppose you think I'm just bluffing Caffrey?"

Neal flashed his most winning smile and replied with "c'mon Peter, I'm sorry I didn't stay in the van when you told me to, it's so BORING you know how much I hate it. In response to your question, I consider _bluffing_ to be too strong a word, but yes, I know you'd succumb to the pangs of yearning if I were to go back to prison."

"Who said anything about physically going back to prison Neal?"

Neal looked up in confusion.

"Is this some mental prison you're working on in your garage? Cos, I hate to break it to you Peter but where I go, my arrest rate upping mind goes too."

Peter chose to ignore the cheekiness of his young charge and flashed his own smug smile at his words.

"Oh no Neal, my apologies, when I say prison, I mean more….prison like _circumstances_."

Neal looked suspiciously at the self satisfied man before him that he thought of as a father.

"What do you mean…circumstances?"

"Well for starters, you know the ankle jewellery you're sporting this season?"

Neal nodded in disdainful assertion.

Peter continued in his stern voice that was so often reserved just for Neal, "the radius attaching to that anklet was two miles, correct?"

Neal nodded slowly, not at all liking the direction this conversation was beginning to take.

Seeing the dawn of realisation beginning to spread across the younger man's handsome face, Peter went for the kill shot.

"Well, the radius is now zero."

You go from work, to home and back again. You are completely confined to June's for the next month with no visitors permitted. That means no Mozzie, no Alex and no Sarah. I will speak to June about accommodating your grocery needs for the next month so you needn't trouble yourself with going to the store."

.."AND" he continued interrupting Neal as he began his predictable and outraged protests; "you are on desk duty whilst at work. You will not work the field with me. You will remain at your desk all day every day working the most inartistic cold cases I can find, with the exception of your lunch hour, which you will spend within this building."

"I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in you and how much you let me down on this case, I expected better from you and I now find myself wondering is my faith ill placed. Now, do you have anything to say for yourself or any questions about your punishment?"

Neal surprised Peter by dropping his head and examining his shoes before responding with a quiet "No Sir."

Peter stared appraisingly at the apparently contrite man before him for a few moments...

"Alright then Neal, as today is conveniently the first day of the month, your punishment is in effect from this moment. Go home now please and remain there for the night. I will be checking and god himself won't be able to help you if you place one foot outside that house tonight or any of the next 31 nights, do I make myself abundantly clear to you?"

With Neal's affirmative nod to his satisfaction Peter barked out "dismissed" and watched, unaccountably upset as the young man bade him a polite good night and left the office without a backwards glance.

Thirty minutes later the red LED on Peters computer indicated that Neal was home as instructed. Setting the alert to trigger if the anklet went passed the threshold of June's front door; Peter sank back in his squeaking chair and rubbed his hands over his tired face. He felt miserable and he felt annoyed about being miserable. He hated punishing Neal, even though Neal would never believe it. He knew Neal would find this particular punishment horrid; he valued his freedom however limited, greatly and loved nothing more than chatting up every waitress and cashier in his two mile radius.

 _He deserves it_ he told himself reassuringly, _hell if that had been me,_ _Hughes would have had me on desk duty for three months_. He grimaced as he remembered being chewed out by Hughes for nearly the exact same thing he just chewed Neal out for and being stuck on cold cases until Hughes thought he'd suffered sufficiently.

Staring up at the ceiling he wondered if he'd been too hard on the kid. That's what he was after all; a thirty something impulsive kid who'd never had anyone in his life to show him right from wrong. He closed his eyes and groaned at the thoughts of El's opinion on Neal's conspicuous absence from the Burke household. She mothered Neal like he was her own, always fussing about the kids weight and sleeping patterns. _Yup_ thought Peter, he could expect a tirade about how he was too tough on Neal and didn't cut him enough slack considering all he'd been through.

Standing up and swinging his coat over this should, Peter began to make his way home for a nice cold beer and the last half hour of the game. Reaching the door, he grabbed two needed files and reached to flick out the lights…

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Peter looked around startled for the source of disturbance and realised it was coming from his computer, fearing it was that god damned virus doing the rounds that they'd been warned about he reached to take the recommended precaution of removing the network cable when the phone rang. Grabbing the receiver Peter barked "what!" down the line, to the now flustered girl at the Marshalls Office".

"Agent Peter Burke?"

"Yes?"

"This is Grace Vaughn from the Marshalls Office, we have a perimeter breach of subject Neal Caffrey, and he's currently one mile outside of his recently altered radius Sir. Do you acknowledge notification of same?"

Peter closed his eyes and took a moment to process what he had just heard.

"…yes" he eventually said in quiet anger. "Thank you for your call Grace."

With that, he threw his files on back on the overflowing desk, transferred Neal's data tracking from desktop to mobile and stormed at a ferocious pace out of the FBI offices, narrowly avoiding a heavy collision with a highly affronted janitor.

Neal wandered the streets of New York aimlessly, not even sure why he was there, what he hoped to achieve. All he knew was that he was hurt. He was really hurt. He could take all the bollockings Peter handed out, god knows he'd had enough of them and he could take all the cabin fever inducing punishments. What he couldn't take, was the look in Peter's eyes when he told him he was essentially a disappointment and that he wasn't sure if he should even bother with him anymore. It didn't cross the hurt young man's mind, that what he was thinking wasn't what Peter had said.

He just knew that Peter was going to leave him, like everyone else in his life did. His dad. His mom. Kate. Ellen. Everyone. Well, he wasn't going to wait around like an obedient dog in his kennel for it to happen. He was going to make the most of his freedom whilst he still had it and before Peter tossed him aside like a burned out asset. Shameful tears began to form in his eyes as he thought of his true nature and role at the FBI. He was a criminal. He would always be a criminal. He was useful to them, but he wasn't part of their little family. Their stupid family. Like he wanted to be part of a loser squad like that anyway. Not him. Not _the_ Neal Caffrey.

Before he could finish this satisfying thought he heard a car slow down behind him and crawl along at his walking pace, tensing with the history of a conman Neal turned slowly around ready to charm his way out of whatever situation this was. _Who did he owe money to again?_

Turning fully, Neal's jaw and heart sank simultaneously. _Peter._ A furious looking Peter, a positively snarling Peter.

"Get in this car NOW Caffrey."

"Oh hey Peter, what brings you here at this hour?"

"Neal George Caffrey you have three seconds to get your ass in this car before I get out and put you in it myself."

Sensing that Peter was not to be messed with in this mood Neal slowly and reluctantly edged his way towards and into the agents running car. Waiting just long enough for Neal to put on his belt Peter sped away from the street without a word or a glance to the younger man beside him, who was cringing away from the palpable anger emanating of the older agent.

"Peter…" began Neal in a weak attempt to gauge his situation.

"Quiet Neal, I do not want to hear your voice unless I am asking you a direct question, do you understand?"

Neal gave a small, sad nod. All his previous anger had left him, he realised that Peter was trying to keep his ass out of prison. He realised that Peter didn't mean the things he said in the way that he Neal, deliberately chose to interpret them. He knew he'd monumentally screwed up this time. He knew that this time, he was definitely going back. No more idle threats, he'd finally pushed Peter too far. With this vicious cycle of thoughts cascading around his head, Neal leant against the window in abject misery and congratulated himself on another opportunity blown.

Peter saw the slump, defeated stance and sadness etched in the younger mans face and it calmed him. He knew what was going on in the kids head. _He thinks I'm bringing him back._

Well, Neal had another thing coming if he thought that he would ever let anyone, not even himself, land him back in jail. Tonight, he was going to teach Neal a lesson he wouldn't forget. He wasn't sure if their relationship could stand what he was planning, but he knew he had to try. Neal turned to Peter in confusion as he turned into the Burke household, but knew better than to ask questions.

Following Peters gesture, he clambered out of the passenger seat and followed the still silent agent into the familiar surroundings of his home. Entering the living room, Peter flicked on the lights and said "El is away at her parents this weekend. Now, are you hungry?"

Taken aback by the question Neal gave a startled head shake in the negative, no, he'd had a particularly stunning helping of June's famous beef stew just before this latest debacle unfolded.

"Couch, sit, now" said Peter in quiet anger giving Neal a gentle push in the general direction.

Neal for once obeyed without question and Peter took up front and centre stance in front of his young charge, who's eyes were now riveted to the pattern in his centre rug.

"Neal look at me please."

Hearing the calm and authoritative tone Neal tore his eyes up from the floor and looked into Peters' eyes, expecting to see anger and hatred there. All he saw though was a clam determination.

"Neal. You completely and wilfully disobeyed me tonight, by flaunting a punishment I had given you. A punishment that you'd earned for _already_ completely and wilfully disobeying me. I'd like an explanation please."

Opening his mouth to deliver an instinctive and convincing spiel that couldn't be said to be a _direct_ lie, Neal stopped short. He was tired. Tired of the con. Answering truthfully he said "I was having a tantrum. I deliberately misinterpreted what you said to me when you were giving me that roasting so I could feel hard done by rather than just face and accept what I'd done. I acted childishly and stupidly and I can only hope that you'll believe me when I say I'm really sorry. I never mean to let you down or disappoint you, but I always do and I understand why you're sending me back."

Peter had to fight to not all but gape at the young man's' surprising burst of honesty and fight even harder not to take the torn up kid in a hug and tell him all was forgiven.

"Neal, get this through that thick skull of yours. I will never send you back to jail if there's another option. _Never._ You're more than a CI to me and you damn well know it. Peter paused to let this information sink into his headstrong kids' head. satisfied it had, he pressed on.

"Now, as I said, I will never send you back when there's another option. Yelling at you hasn't worked. Grounding you hasn't worked. Putting you on desk duty hasn't worked. So now, we're going to go down the more traditional route, and you young man, are going to have your bare bottom spanked soundly."

Neal was momentarily speechless as the Peter's pronouncement lingered in the air but quickly found his voice.

"Have you lost your mind Peter? You can't do that. I'm a grown man for Christ's sakes!"

Fixing Neal with a stern glare Peter ground out in a level voice "yes I can Neal, and watch the language. You have left me no choice given your repeated actions; talking to you doesn't work so now we're going to see does applying some pressure to your backside do the trick. Rest assured, you'll survive and it's no more than my own father gave to me when I thought I knew best."

When Neal merely gaped at him, Peter sighed and moved forward and gently took the kid by the upper arm and pulled him up, and settled himself down on the couch, so Neal was standing before him. "Neal, I am not going to do this against your will. I am not going to give you a long talk about why this is the best option; if you're honest with yourself you already know that it is and that you've had this coming for a very long time. Now, if you agree the undergo this manner of discipline just bend over my knee and we can get started, if not, we're going to have to bring this to Hughes and let him determine what the outcome should be."

Neal had stood stock still for what seemed like an eternity to Peter, when he suddenly plopped himself down over the agents knee with a sigh. "I'm sorry Peter, I know I have this coming and I accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate."

Gaping down at the young man's' back Peter felt a surge of pride for his young charge which quickly dissipated as he realised the task he had before him.

"You've made the right decision Neal and I'm proud of you. You need to know however, that your spanking is over when I say it is over and not before then, clear?"

Processing this information quickly, Neal merely responded with a quiet "yes Peter."

Steeling himself, Peter wrapped his free arm around the kid's waist, holding him firmly in position and lifted his outside leg slightly so that Neal's upturned bottom was raised further into the firing line. Without further adieu, Peter raised his hand and delivered the first stinging swat to the Neal's clothed bottom.

Neal let out an involuntary hiss. He hadn't expected Peter's hand to _sting_ so much.

Peter didn't scold as he systematically delivered the first round of Neal's spanking, doling out fast and firm swats over every inch of the pert bottom. Neal began to squirm over Peter's knee, trying to take his now smarting bottom out of the range of the older man's strong hands. Peter merely held him tighter and concentrated on delivering fast paced swats on the kids sit spots, drawing the first round of pleas from Neal.

"Ow…ok….OW….Peter ok…. I get it, no more rule breaking I swear. Please…please no more".

"We're only just getting started young man" Peter admonished in reply, causing Neal to whimper into the couch cushion. "It's ok to cry Neal" said the agent more kindly.

Neal who was indeed fighting back tears against the never ending onslaught of swats scoffed indignantly " _cry?_ I'm not a _baby_ Peter."

Rolling his eyes Peter responded calmly "I know you're not Neal, but I'll have you know I cried every time by father saw fit to take me over his knee" said Peter as he delivered the last searing swat of this round on Neal's sit spot.

"Stand up please."

Jumping of Peter's knee in relief Neal wiped a hand over his teary eyes and gave Peter what he hoped was a winning smile.

"Ok, now that you're satisfied that I've been sufficiently shown the error of ways, I'll just be on my merry way home now."

Glaring at his attempted escapee Peter shook his head.

"Nice try mister. Pants. Down, now."

Giving Peter a pleading look Neal shook his head in the negative frantically, his tousled curls bouncing as he did so.

"No Peter, please no. I've learnt my lesson, I'm sorry and it'll never happen again, please, you don't need to spank me anymore."

Sighing, Peter leant forward and pulled the kid closer to him, quickly undid his belt and zipper and tugged the kid's expensive slacks down to his knees ignoring the vocal protests in response. Gently guiding a furiously protesting Neal back over his knee, Peter incurred further Caffrey wrath by tugging down Neal's boxer shorts, revealing a predictably glowing red bottom.

Delivering a sharp swat to the now bared bottom of the younger man Peter said firmly "stop that whining this instant young man, I told you that you were going to receive a bare bottom spanking and that is exactly what you're getting. Now do you accept that, or do I need to go upstairs and find El's hairbrush?"

Stifling a grin as the frantic shaking of the younger man's head told him he accepted it, Peter again wrapped his arm around the waist of his young charge and began lighting a fire to his soft, upturned bottom.

Neal threw masculinity to the wayside and howled, squirmed and cried as swat after stinging swat peppered his sensitive bottom. Peter was a mean spanker, covering every single inch of his cheeks and sit spots; he'd be feeling this spanking for the rest of the night. He howled even more when the firm hand came down on the same spot over and over again. Again, Peter was silent as he delivered Neal's punishment, letting his bionic arm do the taking.

And all of a sudden, it was over.

Peter looked down on the sobbing kid in sympathy and knew instinctively that this was the right method of discipline for Neal. He had never before seen his young charge so open and forthcoming. Peter rubbed comforting circles on his back and waited patiently for Neal to regain composure of himself. The bottom before him was now a fiery red and no area survived unscathed. Satisfied that Neal's crying had now become mere muffled sniffling, Peter gently pulled the boys boxers back up over his throbbing backside and lifted him up into a forgiving hug. Neal pressed himself into Peters embrace, surprised by how natural it felt and how much he _needed_ that connection with him at that moment.

"You ok to stand up now buddy?" Peter asked quietly.

Nodding, Neal stood and with a questioning look at Peter, who nodded in the affirmative, pulled his slacks back up, hissing as they made contact with his stinging bottom.

Looking at the younger man sadly, Peter asked in quiet trepidation "Neal, do you understand why I had to do that?"

Nodding, Neal further surprised Peter with his honestly by responding quietly "yes I do. I've genuinely learned my lesson Peter and I promise to try and do better."

Relief surged through the older agent who secretly feared Neal's response to his spanking might be damaging to their close relationship.

Standing up and ruffling the young man's hair affectionately, he smiled warmly at him "that's my boy."

"Now, you'll stay and watch the game with me?"

Neal rolled his eyes in disdain for sports but nodded happily.

"Good, glass of wine then?" said Peter smirking, knowing Neal's feelings on beer.

Neal nodded happily again and settled himself very gingerly on the couch whilst Peter busied himself in the kitchen fixing snacks and their drinks.

"Oh, and Neal?" Peter shouted in.

"Yeah?" responded Neal warily.

"You're still grounded buddy, original punishment still stands. So this is your last night of freedom, enjoy it kid."

 _ **"Aw PETER."**_


End file.
